The Politics of Punk

In part of the third hour of last week's Northern Alliance Radio Show, JB Doubtless and Mitch Berg debated the merits of punk rock. Mitch claimed that punk paved the way for the pop music revival of the early 80's (which he described as one of the two best periods in pop music since the advent of rock and/or roll), while JB dismissed punk as a musically challenged movement for social outcasts whose main accomplishment was to annoy.

This article from the New York Times, which appeared in today's Star Tribune, with the cute title A Bush Surprise: Fright-wing Support, isn't likely to influence the argument either way, but it does demonstrate that, when it comes to politics, you can't always judge a book by its cover:

With his mohawk, ratty fatigues, assorted chains and tattoos -- swallows on each shoulder, a nautical star on his back and the logo of the Bouncing Souls, a New York City punk band, on his right leg -- 22-year-old Nick Rizzuto is the very picture of counterculture alienation. But it's when he talks politics that Rizzuto sounds like a real radical, for a punk anyway.

Rizzuto is adamantly in favor of lowering taxes and for school vouchers, and against campaign finance laws; his favorite Supreme Court justice is Clarence Thomas; he plans to vote for President Bush in November, and he's hard-core into capitalism.

"Punks will tell me, 'Punk and capitalism don't go together,' " Rizzuto said. "I don't understand where they're coming from. The biggest punk scenes are in capitalist countries like the U.S., Canada and Japan. I haven't heard of any new North Korean punk bands coming out. There's no scene in Iran."

Rizzuto is the founder of Conservative Punk, one of a few Web sites and blogs that have sprung up recently as evidence of a heretofore latent political entity: Republican punks. With names such as GOPunk, Anti-Anti-Flag and Punkvoter Lies, the sites are a curious blend of Karl Rove and Johnny Rotten, preaching personal responsibility and reflexive patriotism with the in-your-face zeal of a mosh pit. When he's not banging his head to the Misfits, the Vandals or the Bouncing Souls, for example, Rizzuto spends his time writing essays denouncing Michael Moore and "left-wing propaganda," and urging other conservative punks to join his cause.

If nothing else the article provides me with a perfect answer when people ask me what Mitch is really like. My standard response will now be, "a curious blend of Karl Rove and Johnny Rotten."